1. Field of the Invention
This invention generally relates to digital communications and, more particularly, to a system and method for programming the parallel data path width in a serial-to-parallel information stream transceiver.
2. Description of the Related Art
In serial data communications, it is conventional to convert a received serial stream of input data into parallel data paths. For example, the serial stream may be synchronous optical network (SONET) data, which is converted into parallel paths for the purpose of deframing or recovering tributaries in the SONET frame. Conventionally, receivers are designed with a fixed number of pins for the parallel data interface. For example, the serial input data may be converted into 4, 8, or 16 parallel paths, corresponding to pins provided by the device manufacturer. Likewise, when the parallel paths are recombined after processing for serial transmission, the transmitting device is typically limited by a fixed number of pins provided for the parallel interface.
It would be advantageous if a serial-to-parallel transceiver, serial-to-parallel receiver, or parallel-to-serial transmitter could be provided with a programmable parallel interface, so as to not be limited by just one or two fixed configuration of parallel paths.